Sheriff finds Cupar farmer not guilty of drink-driving
A well-known Cupar farmer and former racehorse trainer has been cleared of drink-driving after claiming his breathalyser reading came from having drunk mouthfuls of vodka seconds after leaving his car.
Cupar Sheriff Court.
- Published in the Courier : 22.02.12
- Published online : 22.02.12 @ 01.13pm
Jeremy Billinge (46) was cleared of a drink-driving charge at Cupar Sheriff Court after claiming in a ''post-incident drinking'' defence that only minutes before being challenged by police he had consumed between a fifth and a sixth of a bottle of vodka.
This, he said, had been done in the space of around 45 seconds after he entered his own private land and it had contributed to a police breathalyser reading.
The evidence came as Billinge, of Hilton Farm, denied that on April 21 last year, at West Port, Cupar, he drove with excess alcohol (50 mics). During evidence the court was told that police were called after Billinge was seen swigging from the bottle while he was in a local car wash and a concerned female witness contacted the police.
Witness PC Callum Lawson said he had received a call about the car wash at around 3.05pm, but CCTV operators saw the Range Rover leave and go into a side street.
He arrived at Billinge's farm about five minutes later and asked him if he had any bottles in his car. He was shown a small bottle of water. Asked if he had been drinking, the accused said he had taken a couple of glasses of wine in Anstruther.
When later asked if there were any other bottles in the car, Billinge said there was a bottle of vodka between the centre console and the driver's seat.
In evidence the accused said he had been having alcohol issues and his wife wanted him to stop drinking. He said he kept a bottle of vodka in a tool shed to hide his drinking and on the day of the incident he had collected it on his way to a physiotherapy appointment in Anstruther.
He had taken a ''swig'' before getting into the car, then another one of two swigs in the car park outside the physiotherapist's clinic.
After his appointment he had headed back to Cupar and had another drink while waiting in the car wash.
Billinge added that, when he got on to the driveway leading to his house, he had pulled the bottle out and had ''another few drinks'' in the space of about 45 seconds.
Asked by his lawyer if the incident had marked ''the end of secret bottles of vodka in the tool shed and driving around roads in Fife with a bottle of vodka in the console'', Billinge said: ''Yes, it is.''
He also said that he had been ashamed at what had happened, had been to counselling and had not taken alcohol since.
Finding him not guilty, Sheriff Derek O'Carroll said he had to have caution about the accused's evidence, which was given in his own interests, but added that Billinge had been open and honest as far as his foolish actions were concerned.
The sheriff also said he found it plausible that Billinge had taken just enough to drink on his own land to ''tip you over the limit''.
